Page 324 of Alpha Mates

“He’s alive,” I breathe while my own grip loosens, and the world finally begins to blur. “He’s still alive, and he’s got a whole new set of them.”

“Who?” he whispers, his touch gentling in a way I hadn’t felt from him in years. “Who’s alive, Aiden?”

“Reon,” I growl, voice breaking, but it doesn’t even matter.

He doesn’t know who that is. How could he when he’d never asked what happened after he saved me? He just promised they were all dead and made me vow to never tell anyone in the pack about it.

Mom used to ask if I was okay, but when I kept saying no, she eventually stopped. It just became this thing they pretended never happened—until they saw the red eyes.

The shades came next, and lessons on how to hide it all. It was harder to hide the rage, but they made sure I knew how to bury that too.

If all the bodies in our closet were dead, then as long as I stayed in line, no one would ever know. Except, they weren’t all dead.

A hand on my shoulder makes me snarl, ready to rip into—

Julian.

I’m the worst version of myself, canines bared, eyes burning red. And he’s the most distressed version of himself I’ve ever seen, but he still waits for me with a frail smile, as if our world isn’t crumbling around us and we have no idea how to keep it together.

“Hey,” he whispers while his hands slide down my arms and over my hands, coaxing me towards him. “I know.”

My grip relaxes, freeing my father, and I turn to face my mate. He’s drowning—and he stares at me like I’m the only thing keeping him afloat. I can see it, can feel it in our bond—and I stare back at him for the same reason. We’re each other’s lifeboats.

And hedoesknow.

He knows how much this hurts.

He knows how scared I am.

He knows how tired I am.

And he knows who Reon is because he asked. He’s the only one who ever asked.

“I know,” he says again, and his smile wobbles before it crumples.

There’s no more pretending, but I don’t need him to. We both know this is the worst day of our lives, and nothing either of us says or does will change that.

My rage simmers. I don’t think fear should know anyone this well. My lips part, but I’m no better at getting words out now than I was before. A choked croak slips past my lips, and Julian nods minutely as he clasps his trembling lips together. He knows.

“He’s alive,” he repeats, lips quivering beneath my touch.

I nod, and the movement doesn’t help this time. “They’re alive.”

Julian’s eyes splinter further, tears stream down his face. His hand finds my cheek anyways, smearing mine away. I do the same.

I wipe his tears, the ones already spilled and the ones still on their way, because we both know what comes next.

We’ll have to pretend none of this ever happened. We’ll have to be alphas first and lead our people straight to our nightmares.

So, I wipe his tears because it’s the last thing I get to do for just him. And he wipes mine like it’s the last thing I’ll let him do. Because this is all we get.

Chapter 64

Julian

“Alive? What do you mean he’s alive?”

I close my eyes as I struggle to breathe.